Oria
by aerith00
Summary: It was auction night. Her golden hair had been carelessly twisted up into a knot and charcoal mixed under her eyes to accent their green color and attract a buyer's eye. And just as always, she was seeing and hearing things that shouldn't be there.
1. Chapter 1

Oria (Pirates of the Caribbean)

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It was auction night.

The dank cavern filled early with eager bodies, ripe with the scent of stale rum and tobacco smoke from all walks of town, both land and sea. The place was long and wide, the ceiling not as high as one would think, merely enough for a two story building built from stained wood to stand in the center of the back wall, with a long stage-way laid out in similar boards across its width. The sea reached a small distance into the cavern, but there was plenty of space further in for multitudes of feet to walk and lifeboats to land. On this night the shallow seawater was filled with them as men slid in from a town placed on the cliff face above, from their ships in the docks, and many from the sea itself to see what the auction had to offer.

Torches spread randomly throughout the cavern light it strangely, the light constantly changing in intensity and color, shapes ever changing. The rock walls multiplied the softest whisper, so the multitude of people gathered there caused a cacophony that might have been heard quite a distance out to sea if the water did not silence their voices once the cavern ended.

After the floor had filled with men, the door to the wooden building opened, and an enthusiastic and lustful cheer burst from the crowd. One man stepped out and walked to the edge of the platform on which the building rested. His brown dapper suit stood out merely for its style against those the crowd wore, but the condition of the cloth was of the same level. He was as dirty and smelly as the rest of them, and they all had a tattoo to prove their alikeness.

The cheering continued and did not stop until the man raised his hands, a grin lighting his face as he requested silence from the brethren. "Welcome all!" he called, his scratchy voice reaching easily to all parts of the cavern. "Y'all my friends, are in for a treat! You are here, to buy!" he exclaimed, rousing another cheer from the audience.

"Me and my companions have traveled to all parts of the seas, aiming to get you your best choice this evenin'. Tonight we bring you, the sweetest delicacies that we have seen! Ranging to satisfy all tastes and desires, we have brought all types to acquire! One for everyman!" Here he paused, and glanced down at the crowd with a teasing grin on his lips. "For the right price of course," he finished smoothly. A number of hearty replies and laughs flew forward from the crowd, urging him on.

"And now _gentlemen_," the man continued. "Here… they… are!"

The door behind him opened, and now the jeering from the mob could not be contained. As they whooped and hollered, a small number of women seeming at first to be dressed in all sorts of finery and richness ascended the platform stage. But as they stopped to face the crowd, the men could see ropes tying the wrists and ankles of the women to each other, their smeared and dirty faces heavily made up with paints, and the borrowed condition of their fancy gowns. None of what they wore belonged to them, not a part of how they looked flattered them, but it only ignited the mob's want all the more. The cheering surged and coins jingled, and it took a bit of time before their host was able to calm the crowd down to hear him speak.

"This fine lady here," he motioned, gesturing towards the first in line. "Beautiful specimen! Smells always of rosie flowers, and loves to pour tea for her guests." The crowd let out some laughter, knowing full well his was jesting, but still clamored to bid. "Do I hear 20 pounds?" the man called out to the reaches of the cavern. "30?"

And so the auction went, and one after another the women were cut from their binds and sold off to the highest bidder, each one more rakish than the next. But somewhere down the line one particular women stood, staring out unto the crowd before her. Her golden hair had been carelessly twisted up into a knot, charcoal mixed under her eyes to accent their green color, and much white paint poured onto her skin. Her dress was green as well and clung to her raggedly, torn in inopportune places. Her condition though was no better than that of any of the other pieces.

As the host worked his way down the ropes the woman's eyes scanned the crowd fearfully, feeling their eyes on her, scrutinizing and measuring. She could smell their breath on her, and see their leers from all directions. Her eyes continued coursing over the multitude of faces, never stalling, never wanting to make eye contact.

Suddenly her gaze stopped. In one corner, about mid distance from the stage a man stood leaning against the cavern wall, his arms crossed and his eyes watching her. His dark hair was neat, not even reaching his chin and some places held by a few small braids. His clothes were normal breeches and a shirt and coat with boots, but their composition was average. Although young he did not stand out, but her gaze halted when she noticed his attentions. Stunned for a moment, the woman blinked, then quickly moved her eyes away.

Another was cut from the lines and the woman was pushed forward from the others behind her, who were then being prodded and shoved by the men who sold them. Her gaze was scattered to another part of the cave, and found his face again, this time in the back on the opposite wall, far from where he had been and too far for him to have made it there inside the insistent press of bodies within the cavern within that few moments of time. He was watching, always watching her every move. She glanced furtively back to where he had been, but there were others there, and then back again to his new place, but there was no one.

The woman blinked and shook her head furiously, trying to clear her head. A roar of voices suddenly invaded her ears. She was grabbed roughly by the wrist and dragged to stand by the auctioneer. He pinched her back, forcing her to stick out her chest and straighten.

"And here is a wonderful woman worth fighting for my men! Lit by the sun of the Caribbean Sea! Name your price!"

"25," a voice shouted from the back.

"30," another countered it, location lost in the din.

"40."

"60!"

"85!"

"100!"

The woman's eyes were frozen on her feet. She heard the men call out their price as it continued to rise. "I hear 100!" the auctioneer cried. "Do I hear 150?"

"150!"

"200!"

"300!"

"Come on now men, this is mighty fine, mighty fine!" the auctioneer shouted enthusiastically. "Where's 500? 600? Dare I say 700?"

The cavern soon filled with silence, except for the dim murmurs of the crowd. No woman at the auction had yet been sold for such a high price, not even 500 pounds. No one was willing to offer such as large amount if they could get away with less.

"310!"

"320!"

"Men!" The auctioneer cried. "Surely you see what this specimen is worth! Do you want a lesser man than yourself, to claim such a fine prize? Name your price!"

"330!"

"350!"

"355!"

"10 gold pieces," one voice called out clearly above the noise, silencing all others. The auctioneer stared blankly at the man who had bid, and staggered back a little, his expression stunned. The woman's lifted her head immediately with an almost audible snap, searching for the pirate whom the voice belonged to. The man she had seen earlier stood directly in front of them, first in line of the crowd, watching with an expectant smirk on his face. When no one moved, he reached the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small bag, which he tossed carelessly onto the stage at the auctioneer's feet. The others began to murmur among themselves, contemplating what to do. 10 gold pieces.

The auctioneer fumbled for the bag and picked it up shakily, untying the leather and dumping the contents onto his hand. At the sight he gulped and paled, before looking out onto the crowd again. "Sold!" he screamed.

As the auctioneer cut the woman's ropes, the crowd surged, aiming towards the stage and the gold. The girls were thrown towards the back wall as men raged onto the stage, grabbing whatever they could manage and fighting each other for their wants. Free from her bonds the woman bounded off the stage and fought through the swarm of bodies. Suddenly she was grabbed harshly by the arm and jerked in another direction, out towards the cavern entrance. The men around her fell away, not one clean of blood, and the woman's recently toughened stomach quelled.

Abruptly she was out again in the moonlight, being tugged away from the cave, the cacophony fading behind her. She was pulled onward and around the bend of rocks to a more secluded area out of sight of the cavern entrance. There in the waters a single ship waited, silent as the arm that steered her. The clouds moved then, and nightlight spilled over the cliff face, illuminating her captor as he spun to face her. It was the man who had been watching, and then bought her.

His eyes grazed over her casually. The woman stared at him for a moment, her mind still back in the cavern among the mob of pirates, killing each other for a few pieces of gold and even fewer women. The man's look halted at her face, where his grim look grew into a smirk, and still holding her by the elbow pulled her close, leaning to place his mouth next to her ear.

"I always get what I want," he whispered coldly. His grip tightened for a moment, and then they were off towards the lone ship where pirates waited. His voice had made the woman shiver, and she could not stop as they approached.

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Author's Notes

This is one scene I've had playing in my head for a couple months now, and I just had to write it down. I don't have a storyline for these characters set as of yet, though I hope to eventually. None of the characters featured in this vignette were in the movie, and all belong to me, in case you are wondering.

Pirates of the Caribbean © Disney


	2. Chapter 2

Oria (Pirates of the Caribbean)

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Midday sunlight filtered through the curtains of the ship's cabin, casting gold shadows over the salt stained furniture and tattered wall hangings. In the center of the room was a large bed covered in dark red blankets, on which the young woman with golden hair and clothed in a tattered formal green dress was laid across the bedspread. The intruding light soon splashed onto her face however, disturbing her deep dreamless sleep as she squinted at the sun's brightness and forced her eyes to open.

Other than her, the cabin was empty. The woman blinked for a moment, staring at the ceiling in confusion, at first not remembering where she was, then at realization sat up with a start and looked around furtively, taking in the furniture, decorations, and the smell of the sea and undoubtedly of sailors as well.

The woman gripped the blankets tightly in her fists and forced the approaching panic to the back of her mind and quick breaths to slow. Last night… she didn't remember a thing that had happened last night. A strange pirate had bought her during auction night with a deathly large size of money, making all the men there go mad at the sound of it and forego all previous feelings of what might have been considered brotherhood for said coins. Within the resulting melee the pirate had somehow found her and pulled her out, before dragging her to his ship, waiting silent on the water. But the after approaching the ship, her memory was blank. Why?

The woman immediately glanced down at her clothes, and was relieved to find nothing out of place. Even after only a few weeks of being around them, she knew what pirates did to women when they had the chance. Word was they did it because they sailed away from civilization so long. Of course, people also said pirates sold their hearts and souls to the devil before stealing them back along with whatever else they could grab, so who was to say what went on in a pirate's head?

After checking herself over a few more times to make sure, the woman rose from the bed and took a more thorough study of the room. She tried to take anything from around her and place it with a memory, but nothing stood out. The same fabric present on the bed covered the windows, but she didn't bother to look outside. She could tell by the fluidic movement of the floor below her the ship was in the middle of the sea, and no glance outside the window would help her.

Other than the bed, the only focal point of the cabin was a heavy wooden chest of drawers decorated by dull gold accents, standing below the large frame of what the woman assumed was a painting nailed into the wall, however the same red fabric covered it as well. The woman wandered over to the chest and attempted to open the drawers to view their contents, but every one was locked.

On top of the chest was a glass bottle with a wooden ship built inside. The women picked it up for examination and smirked. Yes, it was a very cliché object to have on board a ship, though she wouldn't have imagined pirates to fancy such a thing. The object itself was stained and run down like the cabin was, and most likely possessed little value. Finding nothing interesting about the ship in the bottle, the woman placed it back onto the chest. The only thing left in the room was the painting, covered completely by the red fabric, which was long enough to trail down to the floor behind and around the chest. Curious, the woman reached to take one side and pull it away. Then the door behind her flew open with a bang.

"What the hell are ye doing?" a man's voice screamed at her from the doorway.

The woman snatched her hand away from the covering as if it burned her and spun around to face the door. But no one was there, and the door hadn't even opened. She had heard the bang and voice clearly, as if the speaker had been just behind her, not muffled by any walls or barriers.

Awareness of silence brought the woman's attention to the noise of the crew from outside. Forgetting the painting, she moved to investigate the deck. It would have been smarter, and safer, for a girl to stay below in the cabin, but she knew that eventually she would have to confront those that ran the ship whether she chose to or not.

Opening the door slowly, the woman peered out into the sunlight. The cabin she had been placed in was right on the deck, probably somewhere below the helm, and the stairs heading there were placed right in front of her door, hiding view of the deck. She moved around the stairway cautiously, not wanting to be bombarded by anything or anyone, until she had a clear view.

The woman had heard stories of pirate ships that disappeared into the fog, some many different colors, and one was even said to be entirely black including the sails. This ship while not living up to the description completely, did not defy it. The boards were treated to become a dull dark gray blue below the brown of normal wood if seen from a distance, but these sails were white like those of many other ships. Peering up into the crow's nest the woman could see a black scarf tied to the mast, flapping in the passing wind. The crew was all over the ship, going about their work, and if the woman could not see the pirates she could hear them shouting to each other and laughing at jokes she didn't catch. If it wasn't for the coloring and condition of the ship and the look of the crew, it might have been any merchant vessel out at sea.

Pirates did not have the same look that a normal sailor did. There was something in the way a pirate moved, spoke, and dressed that betrayed them. And if one watched, this was obviously a pirate ship.

Moving out from her hiding place, the woman walked across the deck, careful not to stumble with the rocking of the waves beneath the hull. The deck was littered with various piles of weapons, clothes, and supplies for the ship if need be, but the crew moved around them easily like rats running through a city back street. As she proceeded the pirates watched her and spoke roughly to each other in a cant she couldn't quite understand. They leered but did not approach her, and even moved out of the way if she accidentally came to close with the movement of the ship. This was confusing to her and she watched them just as carefully, wary of their looks but wondering why they did nothing. She did not see the man that bought her.

Reaching the front of the ship, the woman leaned onto the railing and scanned the horizon. As she thought, there was nothing except the endless ocean on all sides, and nothing was there to help gain her bearings. It's not like she would know where she was anyway. The woman stepped onto a crate set next to the side and leaned even further out, breathing in the salty air deeply. If she could only clear her head, then maybe she would be able to remember what happened last night…

"What the hell are ye doing?" a man's voice screamed at her from behind.

The woman spun around on the crate, grasping onto the rail behind her to keep from falling off. One pirate stood behind her on the deck glaring, carrying another crate in his arms. "Moronic skirt, ye want to become fish food or somethin'?" he demanded, dropping his crate next to hers with a slam. "Come 'ere," he growled, grabbing a handful of the sleeve of her dress and dragging her off the platform and back onto the deck next to him.

Pulling her along behind, the pirate strode back across the deck, then instead of throwing her back into her cabin like she expected, up the stairs and to the helm itself. He did not slow to account for her shorter gait, and she had to hurry to keep the sleeve he clenched from being pulled off. At the top of the steps the pirate stopped beside two other men conversing on the opposite side of the helm. Unaware of this the woman almost ran into his back before realizing his stopping. "Cap'n," she heard the man say in his rough tone, "Yer take's awake."

That's when the woman realized this pirate was the same voice she had heard before in the cabin. But when the two other men turned towards her she realized something else. The one standing closest to them was the captain.

He looked too young. The man that bought her was the captain of this ship.

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Author's Notes

It appears a storyline is evolving out of what was originally just a one shot. And yes, this chapter is purposefully short. Each chapter is probably going to be only a vignette, because that's the least stressful way for me to write it. It also helps me pack more information into just one short scene, which keeps me from rambling on even more than I do already.

And yes, my characters do have names they just haven't been said yet. If you haven't realized it, this woman in this chapter is the same woman from the previous. And as for the speech patterns I'm using for the pirate in this chapter, I just made that up. I have no idea what it's supposed to be like. If you hate it then please tell me so I can figure something else out. It's probably horribly inaccurate or some such thing, so if you're willing to suggest how to make it better please do.

Pirates of the Caribbean © Disney. Everything else in this story besides the universe it's placed in is mine, so no stealing.


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